Annual Events

Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center sponsors two annual community events.  They are:  Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day and Kristallnacht, Night of the Broken Glass.

Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)

Yom HaShoah occurs at the end of April or early in May.  The celebration varies from year to year because the date coincides with the 27th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar.  It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.  The date was selected by the Israeli government in 1951, but since then has become a day commemorated by Jewish communities and individuals worldwide.

Shoah means catastrophe in Hebrew and education about the Holocaust in the 1950’s talked about the suffering inflicted by the Nazis. Since then the emphasis has shifted to how people, both Jews and non-Jews, resisted the Nazis. 

Yom HaShoah is a day of remembering and memorial services are included in the annual programs. The overwhelming theme that runs through most observances is the importance of remembering to insure that such a tragedy will never happen again.

Learn more about Yom HaShoah.

Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)

Kristallnacht is commemorated every year on November 9.  It marks the anniversary of the nights (November 9 and 10, 1938) rampaging mobs in Germany and newly acquired territories in Austria freely attacked Jews in the streets, in their homes, burned synagogues, destroyed businesses and schools. At least 96 people were killed, hundreds were injured and 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps.  

These events were orchestrated by Goebbels (master propagandist of the Nazi regime) but were called spontaneous outbursts by German propaganda.  The Jewish people were held responsible for the damage and forced to pay for repairs.   Many scholars call Kristallnacht the crucial turning point in German policy regarding Jews.

Every year there is an interfaith commemoration of Kristallnacht which reflects on the need to be vigilant in fighting prejudice and hate, and to work together to build a safer more inclusive society that honors cultural and religious diversity.

Learn more about Kristallnacht.